The Marketing of the American President

When it comes to political entertainment, it doesn’t get much better than presidential election season in the US. Edward Bernays, the father of modern public relations, explained why almost a century ago.

NEW YORK – When it comes to political entertainment, it doesn’t get much better than presidential election season in the United States. Foreign observers follow the race to determine who is best equipped to lead the US – and, to some extent, the world – toward a more stable, secure, and prosperous future. But in America, entertainment is king, and Americans tend to focus on excitement above all – who looks better, has a catchier sound bite, seems most “authentic,” and so on, often to the point of absurdity.

This is not a new approach, of course. Edward Bernays, the father of modern public relations, examined it in 1928, in his book Propaganda. “Politics was the first big business in America,” he declared, and political campaigns are “all side shows, all honors, all bombast, glitter, and speeches.” The key to victory is the manipulation of public opinion, and that is achieved most effectively by appealing to the “mental clichés and emotional habits of the public.”

A president, in other words, is nothing more than a product to be marketed. And, as any marketer knows, the quality of the product is not necessarily what drives its success; if it were, Donald Trump would not be regarded as a serious candidate for the Republican Party nomination, much less a top contender. Instead, a president must serve as a kind of imaginary friend: a beer buddy for men, an earnest empathizer for women, or a charming Twitter user for the millennials.

The author's dismissive comments of Bernie Sanders being like a nutty professor and that talking about free post secondary education and universal health care Is somehow simplistic and visionary and therefore impractical shows a lack of understanding. There are several progressive countries in the world (such as the Scandinavian countries) that do indeed have free post secondary education and universal health care. So if Bernie Sanders is seen as a nutty professor then all the more power to him.

When the Presidency is on "sale", the would-be Presidents better be good marketers; reaching the majority's mind and soul who would come to vote on the election day is always a matter of strategy and manipulation. Hotelling's 1929 paper, that looked at this with simplistic assumptions, may have missed to see that by getting too close to each other one might miss the "Trump" card's assault, but by moving far apart from each other, one could miss the majority's attention; that is where strategy meets statistics.

I find Cruz scarier than Trump, in that his political identity is built on being a right wing ideologue rather than an businessman-entertainer. One could expect that Trump could be bought by the establishment, and his antics to embarrass the Republicans are just a basic (and irresistibly effective) negotiating ploy. Cruz just may believe what he is saying. Far more dangerous, and I think the Republican establishment knows it.

Also, interestingly, a consequence of this is that Cruz in the #2 position functions as a shield for Trump, against other Republican Challengers. Trump feeds Cruz attention, and a Trump-Cruz rivalry starves all others of the media attention without which they are nothing.

Also the criticisms of Sanders' alleged simplicity are fascinating, since they mention proposals which are (1) quite specific, and (2) have successfully been implemented in most many world countries that are less wealthy than the U.S. In reality, Sanders may well turn into another Obama -- a malleable defender of the status quo, whose biggest accomplishment is to open a door for future leaders. Similarly I think Sanders would be a step forward in the national discussion of social-economic justice, though he may lack the power to implement all that he is selling at this time.

Clinton of course is at once an unashamed conservative Democrat, who would probably support the invasion of Libya and Iraq a second time if she could, and doesn't even bother to hide who her sponsors are. At the same time, she alienates actual conservatives. So if she wins the nomination, we are likely to have a Republican president, as per the best modern marketing can offer us.

For a change Nina, a very good topic. I do not agree with your description of H. Clinton, she did a lot of damage to the Obama administration and to the US foreign policy and she has no chance on earth of returning to the White House. In today’s times, for the perceived leading democracy of the world to treat its citizens in such a discriminatory manner, is utterly unacceptable. The US laws on citizenship and naturalisation must be challenged. All US citizens whether born in the US, naturalised or born overseas must have equal rights and must be treated as equal. In today’s times this type of discrimination is a disgrace. I am surprised Obama did nothing to correct this deficiency in the law having him-self suffered from it during his first election campaign.

I disagree with your analysis of Nina's position. She merely stated that her contributions were important, not that the policies were good or bad per say. Furthermore, your analysis of "discrimination" is moot. The natural born citizen clause comes from the Constitution, and therefore open to interpretation. It is not a US law passed by courts, and it is not the President's jurisdiction to change it. US Supreme Court has mentioned the clause in passing, lower courts have ruled it out, and some wonder if it can even be addressed in court. Congress may have to deal with it. Conflating these facts is an ignorant endeavor.

The beauty of Trump is he doesn't have to even say anything to get his advertising message across. Everybody knows who he is. Every man secretly wants to be him. Every woman wishes their husband was a bit more like him. Cruz on the other hand, looks like an accountant.

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